Evenly Matched
by Blondie1137
Summary: What actually was supposed to happen when Shang and Mulan returned from the war. How will the couple get over the sudden awareness of Mulan's true gender? The awkward and cute truth one-shot of how things were supposed be after the first movie. *I do not own the characters- I only own the story.*


Evenly matched 

Mulan awoke from her dreamless slumber. She had never actually been a particularly early riser but anticipation to see the newly appointed general Li Shang- she decided to make an exception. After dressing for the appropriate gender, she glanced out of her window and discovered the sun to be only just rising. He had stayed last night after dinner due to the pressure bestowed upon him by her grandmother. To her disappointment, he would be leaving later in the afternoon to return home and start recruiting and training more of the emperor's soldiers. After a moment in thought she crept outside to visit Khan in the idle hours she had to herself before the rest of the household rose.

Stretching her legs as she walked towards the horse, Khan greeted her nudging his face to her cheek slobbering over her in affection. Laughing she hugged her horse and fed him a carrot. Unbeknownst to Mulan, Shang slept restlessly and the sound of her laughter drew him towards the window. Smiling, he dressed in haste to join her outside.

As she strolled and sat on the bridge's edge overlooking the water, she pondered Shang's reason for visiting her house. As a newly promoted general he could have sent someone have given back her helmet without the exertion of any effort on his behalf. Instead he went clearly out of his way to deliver her- well technically her father's helmet to her house.

"Good morning" a voice proclaimed, causing her to jolt, almost falling into the stream in shock.

Startled she greeted him mumbling an oddly rushed "good morning".

Taking in her startled reaction to his appearance, Shang awkwardly murmured, "Do you mind if I join you?"

In her haste to make room for him, she jumped up in a rush causing her to become unstable and stumble towards the bridges edge. Yelping a sound of surprise she braced herself to fall forwards when two hands held her firmly around her waist. He pulled her backwards into his chest as she calmed down. She felt where his fingers where placed lightly but firmly and blushed as she turned her face to look towards him. Realising his error he let go of her quickly causing her to stumble out of his warmth.

"Sorry" Shang said with a sincere tone and apologetic eyes.

It was inappropriate for men to touch women like he had just and he felt extremely guilty. The absence of warmth was all she felt as she tried to control the blush growing ever more noticeable by the second. Her experience as a 'man' desensitised her from guys in general touching her but now she was declared a women things had become slightly more awkward especially if it was him. The absence of touch didn't feel right. He was incredibly handsome and would be a perfect husband but she wouldn't be allowed to think such thoughts of her commanding officer.

Her face now covered with a scarlet blush mumbled "its okay."

She bashfully looked towards his face and graced him with a small smile. Shang looking rather disorientated and in contemplation saw her smile and smiled back.

"Sorry, I'm still getting used to the fact that you actually a lady and not Ping."

Looking directly into his eyes she laughed softly. "I am still Ping, just dressed as a female instead of a male. I'm sure I could still lay a hit on you in a fight." She smirked and crossed her arms with a challenging glint in her eyes.

Surprised by her sudden change of demeanour, he laughed and exclaimed "I don't see how you could defeat me in a dress," pointing to her attire "and besides it was only once."

The realisation of what she was actually wearing dawned upon her and she ran off towards the house yelling "I'll be right back."

She switched her attire to that of her father's clothes and rushed back to where Shang was waiting patiently with a challenging smirk on his face. She was wearing her fathers a baggy shirt and pants that she stashed almost a year ago after kidnapping them from her father's wardrobe to be actually near the right size. Her baggy attire and her hair left out looked rather amusing to Shang and incredibly humiliating to her mother and grandmother spying from inside the house.

"Are you ready to be beaten?" Mulan asked eyes excited.

"I honestly can't believe you were the first one to hit me in a fight even out of all of the men." He said eyeing her.

"Just because I don't looking intimidating now doesn't mean I can't own you so don't underestimate me!" She huffs with conviction and grabs his wrist dragging them to a patch of even grass terrain.

Chuckling to himself with an amused smirk and an intimidating sparkle in his eyes he exclaimed quietly, "wouldn't dream of it"

Before he is ready she aimed a hard punch towards his face but at the last minute he blocked it by grabbing her wrist and looks at her with confusion. They hadn't started yet but as he stared at her face in contemplation she yanks her wrist out his grip and tries to kick him at his ankles to send him forward. Not even flinching when she kicked him he reluctantly threw a lighter punch towards her chest, which she blocked and pushed him back confidently. Smirking at his obvious contemplation of whether or not to actually fight her, she swiftly shifted so his back was facing her and aimed a hard kick at his calf. Caught by surprise Shang stumbled and lost his balance and she turned to punch him in the gut. Finally in balance he moved as she threw the punch just missing his gut but scraping him slightly to the side causing him to be winded for a matter of seconds. Alerted by her hit, he began to fight with utter seriousness with the threat of actually losing to the solider he taught and Mulan at that. She was good but he wanted to win and prove to himself that he still was superior even if it was only a little.

After exchanging punches and blocking each hit for a few minutes the couple wondered if this battle would actually end and how they would do it. Mulan aiming to reclaim the upper hand tried to catch him off balance by kicking him and pushing his shoulder. Shang already waiting for this sidestepped and pushed her towards the ground in an incredible speed and caught her by the waist and pulled her back up. Startled by the speed at which she had been going to towards the ground and the quick reflect that pulled her up she looked down to see his hands again placed at her waist. Blushing and slightly miffed that he had beaten her turned around as he let go and smirked at her with a knowing look.

"Looks like I won" Shang said confidently.

"Not technically." Mulan smiled back.

"What do you mean 'not technically'?" Shang questioned in confusion.

"I said I could still lay a hit on you in a fight and I did. So technically we both win." She pointed out.

"I still won the fight though."

"And I won the first hit. That makes us both winners"

Startled by this sudden revelation, he smiled a sly smile. "I guess we are"

"Do you want to go sit down?" Mulan voiced suddenly in the silence.

As Shang nodded she grabbed his hand and dragged him under the flowering tree where he first appeared yesterday onto the seat. The silence was tangible as the minutes ticked by it choked the two of them until Shang couldn't bear it anymore. He made a promise to himself and he had won, well sort of.

"Mulan" he said he name with a sincerity she hadn't heard before and caught her attention.

"Yes?" She questioned as looked up from the flower she was playing with on her lap.

"I know you are probably wondering what I'm doing here, at your house I mean" Shang cleared his throat seeing confusion in her eyes and continued, "I came with the soul purpose of asking you something. I promised myself that if I won in a fight against you I was actually worthy to ask. Since I sort of did...I will" He looked deeply into her eyes with an earnest smile and took her hands in his. "I know I haven't known you for that long and I only just realised you were a girl, but I really like you Mulan. I like your intelligence, your loyalty and your ability to read people. The way you comforted me when I found out about my fathers death or your crazy idea to create an avalanche. I really trust you as Mulan and Ping and I hope you'll forgive me for leaving you on the mountain. When you were found out as a girl I didn't want you to die. I left you on the mountain in the hope that I could spare your life with little debate and consequences for you or your family. I realised why you had drawn me in and the reason I felt this attraction and attachment to you that I couldn't explain. The truth is Mulan, I like you but not in the way I am supposed to. I like you as a person, I like you as a friend and I like you as a comrade but the thing is I don't just like you. The problem is I don't really like you at all; I love you. I love everything about you. I love your eyes and your smile, your determined spirit and just you in general. I love the way you sacrificed yourself to save you father even if it meant consequences. Mulan I know this may come as a huge shock to you but if you would allow it, I would like to marry you. I would like to be your companion for the rest of your life and"

Unable to stop herself any longer, she abruptly pulled her arms out from his hold she threw her arms around him and whispered one word, "Yes."

-Guys, let me know what you think. This is my first Fan fiction story ever and I really appreciate your opinion :). Thanks heaps, hoped you liked it.-


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